Apple's New-Look AirPods Lineup After AirPods Pro 2 Discontinued

by

Apple announced third-generation AirPods Pro on Tuesday at its "Awe dropping" event, and the company has discontinued AirPods Pro 2 to make room for them in its new-look lineup.

All AirPods 2025
Here's how Apple's AirPods offering looks like now:

  • AirPods 4 – $129
  • AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelation – $179
  • AirPods Pro 3 – $249
  • AirPods Max – $549

AirPods Pro 3 have the same $249 price tag as the previous generation model, so users will be getting several new features and enhancements for the same outlay.

These include up to 2x better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), up to 8 hours of listening time with ANC on a single charge, a new design, built-in heart rate sensing, foam-infused ear tips, Live Translation, and more.

Apple has started accepting pre-orders for AirPods Pro 3. The new devices will be delivered to customers starting on Friday, September 19. Will you be getting a pair? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 3
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral), AirPods Max (Neutral), AirPods Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...
Read Full Article • 73 comments
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, Macs, and More

Thursday January 15, 2026 11:19 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the United States, according to the company's website. Most of the values declined slightly, but some of the Mac values increased. iPhone ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

These 5 Apple Products Will Reportedly Be Upgraded With OLED Displays

Friday January 16, 2026 7:07 pm PST by
Apple plans to upgrade the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iMac, and MacBook Air with OLED displays between 2026 and 2028, according to DigiTimes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the iPad mini and MacBook Pro will receive an OLED display as early as this year, but he does not expect the MacBook Air to adopt the technology until 2028 at the earliest. A new iPad Air is...
Read Full Article • 75 comments
Apple Wallet ID Illinois

Apple Plans to Expand iPhone Driver's Licenses to These 7 U.S. States

Friday January 16, 2026 12:12 pm PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
19 weeks ago
No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JulianL Avatar
JulianL
19 weeks ago
The AirPods Max are looking more and more like the anomaly to me - the most expensive device in the line-up but still using the H1 chip even after Apple had the opportunity to switch to the H2 chip when it made the switch to USB-C and no attempt to address the issues than many people have with the "case" and lack of power-off button.

Does the AirPod Max have any future or does Apple think it's just not worth its while to try and compete with Sony, B&W etc for that segment of the market?

Personally I'd like an over-the-ear offering from Apple that felt like Apple was still trying to even keep up with let alone beat its competitors in that segment (price range) of the over-ears market.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JulianL Avatar
JulianL
19 weeks ago
Everything I'm hearing about the Pro 3 so far makes me quite excited to get my pre-order delivered on the 19th. It's going to be my first ever AirPod earbuds. This is a very brief review from an audio professional who did an A/B comparison of the AirPod Pro 3s with with his Pro 2s at the launch event and said that the audio quality improvement vs the 2s is significant ...



My only disappointment is that they aren't available in black. I prefer my earbuds not to shout "Apple" when I'm wearing them and white pretty much does that in my opinion. I suppose Apple does want me to shout "Apple" though so I guess I can understand the decision but I wish they'd also consider the customer in that decision or am I in the significant minority in wishing that there was a black option?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
Apple_Robert
19 weeks ago

No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
I agree with you about the lack of USB-C cable. Most of us on MR have multiple cables around the but, a person shouldn't have to buy a charging cable separately.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
JPack
19 weeks ago

No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Yeah, the behavior is getting to be shameless.

At $249, Apple can’t include a cable? The last public BOM estimate put the cost of AirPods Pro at $51.

https://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/14978/teardown-apple-airpods-pro-with-charging-case
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
Apple_Robert
19 weeks ago

Especially since I'd imagine a lot of buyers are coming from APP1 or early APP2, which were both Lightning.

These folks would likely really benefit from getting a USB-C cable in the box ... and a nice Apple woven one would help cinch the deal at $249.
That is true. Think of all the people who will be gifting the new APP3 and not realizing that it doesn't come with a charging cable. If you aren't going to include the cable, lower the price to reflect such, which Apple didn't do.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments